Down-face cement-block machine.



No. 894,390. PATENTED JULY 28, 1908. G. F. NEWTON.

DOWN FACE CEMENT BLOCK MACHINE. APIPLIOATION FILED MAR. 30 1907.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

a V l Q r a w NO. 894,390. PATENTED JULY 28, 1908. G. F. NEWTON.

DOWN PAGE CEMENT BLOCK MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.30.1907- 2 SHEETSSHBET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFTCE.

GEORGE F. NEWTON, OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THOMAS SUMMERS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

DOWN-FACE CEMENT-BLOCK MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 30, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. NEWTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of VVyandotte and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Down-Face Cement-Block Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cement block machines and has for its object to reduce a machine by which a single unski led attendant can mold blocks easily and expeditiously.

A further object is to produce a machine by which said blocks can be molded facedown and. removed from the machine while in such position.

A still further object is to produce a machine by which blocks can be produced having parallel inner and outer overlapping air spaces so that frost, dampness or heat cannot pass from the outer to the inner faces without traversing an air ehamb er.

Another object is to produce a machine by which the blocks can be molded with a face of any character or color.

A still further object is to produce a machine by which blocks can be produced with inner and outer air spaces in reversed relation.

A still further object is to produce a machine having attachments whereby blocks of varying depth between their faces, can be produced.

With these and other objects in view as hereinafter appear the invention consists in certain. novel and peculiar features of construction and organization as hereinafter described and. claimed; and. in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1, is a top plan view of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2, is a broken end view of the same. Fig.3, is a vertical section on line IHIII of Fig. l. Fig. 4;, is a vertical section on line IV-IV of Fig. 3. Fig. 5, is a front view of the upper part of the machine. Fig. 6, is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the dotted line VI of Fig. Fig. 7, is a perspective view of a part of the machine equipped with an attachment for increasing the depth of the block between its outer and inner faces. Fig. 8, is a detail perspective view of a modified form of catch for the core shanks. Fig.

Patented July 28, 1908.

Serial No. $65,564:.

9, is a plan view showing a block superposed and in. reversed position with relation to a pair of blocks of greater width to illustrate the method of building a wall. Fig. 10, is a vertical section of a part of a wall built of a number of blocks. Fig. 11, is a view illustrating the mold box in dotted lines containing triangular blocks for use in producing cement cap pieces.

In the said drawings, 1 indicates a horizontal table of size approximately corre sponding to the length and height of the blocks ,to be produced and provided with leg frames 2.

3 indicates angle irons secured to and rising vertically from the leg frames at the rear corners of the table.

4 indicates the back wall overlapping the front sides of the inwardly projecting flanges of angle irons 3 provided with alined openings 5 near its ends and below its center and with an opening 6 preferably above the center of the wall and of length to overlap the inner ends of the openings 5.

7 indicates a frame of U-shape in plan view projecting rearwardly from said wall and having the ends of its parallel arms provided with outwardly projecting flanges S fitting against or secured to the back wall and secured to and projecting outwardly from said flanges and overlapping the rear sides of the inwardly projecting flanges of the angle irons are lugs 9, lugs 10 secured to the rear side of wall 4 at its lower corners being bent to also overlap the rear sides of the inwardly projecting portions of the angle irons. By thus having the wall and its lugs 9 and 10 bearing against the front and rear sides respectively of the angle irons, said. wall is maintained in a vertical position, endwise movement being prevented by the engagement of the outer edges of flanges 8 with the inner edges of the inwardly projecting arms of the angle irons. The said wall thus bears a sliding relation to the angle irons and may be removed by sliding it upward. The back wall is provided at its ends with vertically alined hinge loops 11 and superposed with relation thereto are similar loops 13, at the rear edges of the end walls 12, hinge pins 14 extending through said loops to hinge them together. The pins are carried by the loops 13 so that when the end walls are removed the pins are disengaged from loops 11.

The end walls are provided. at their front and rear corners with inwardly projecting lugs 15 to fit against the front face of the front wall 16 arranged vertically between the end walls and provided with depending hinge plates 17 hinged to forwardly projecting ears 18 of the table, this arrangement permitting the front wall to be swung in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 3 until it rests against the front edges of the leg frames 2.

19 indicates rearwardly projecting lugs at the opposite ends and near the lower corners of the front wall to engage the outer sides of the end wall and hold them snugly against the ends of the front wall.

20 are vertically alined loops formed with and beyond the actual ends of wall 16 and spaced slightly apart and engaging said loops are hinge pins 21 which also extend through cam levers 22 arranged between the loops 20 and adapted when occupying the position shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 6 to clamp the end walls 12 tightly against theends of wall 16. It will thus be seen that by means of the lugs 15 and 19 and the loops and the cam levers, the front and end walls are clamped. rigidly together and constitute in conjunction with the back wall an oblong frame or mold. The front wall is provided with openings 23 directly opposite and of similar size and form as openings 5 and an opening 24 directly opposite and of similar size and form as opening 6. These openings are preferably formed in a removable plate 25 forming a part of the front wall and bridging a large opening 26 therein, said removable plate being preferably of spring steel so as to be capable of being sprung slightly and sna ped into the grooves 27, the grooves being slightly V-shape as shown in Fig. 3 to guard against the accidental dislodgment of the removable plate, it being understood that the removable plate 25 is adapted to be inverted so as to reverse the positions of its core openings, when the back wall is inverted.

28 are a pair of cores which normally occupy the position shown in Fig. 3 with their front ends in openings 5, and 29 are angle bars or shanks projecting rearwardly from the cores and extending slidingly through the bridge portion of'the U-shaped frame 7.

30 are catches extending slidingly through the shanks 29 and beveled at their lower ends as shown in Fig. 2 and provided with heads 31 to rest upon said shanks, said catches are adapted by contact with the bridge portion of frame 7 to prevent the cores from being moved rearward a sufficient distance to withdraw their front ends from openings 5, and also have another function hereinafter referred to.

32 is a core normally occupying the position shown in Fig. 3 with its front end fitting in opening 6 and provided at its rear end with rearwardly projecting angle shanks 33 occupying the same horizontal plane as shanks 29 and also extending slidingly through the bridge portion of frame 7, and said shanks are provided with rigid catches 34 projecting above and below them as shown most clearly in Fig. 4.

35 is a pivot rod carried by the leg frames and 36 a bifurcated foot lever having its branches or arms limited as to downward movement by pins 37 projecting from the leg frames and journaled in the rear ends of said branches or arms is a shaft 38 of rectangular form bypreference and provided at one end with a handle 39. Secured ad justably on the rectangular portion of the shaft by set screws 40 are sleeves 41 pro vided with arms 42 and extending through said arms at a suitable distance from their upper ends is a rod 43, set screws 44 carried by the arms clamping the latter firmly upon the rod. Normally shaft arms 42 occupy a vertical plane between the vertical planes of the contiguous shanks 29 and 33 as shown most clearly in Fig. 4, but may be moved inwardly to planes inward of the vertical planes of shanks 33 for a purpose hereinafter explained.

45 indicates the face plate for the mold the same being supported above the top by the depending flanges 46 resting upon the latter. Its face may be of the type shown in Fig. 3 for producing a brick-like face in the block, or it may be of any other suitable or preferred type.

WVith the parts arranged as shown inFig. 3, cement is deposited in the mold to the required depth and then concrete is deposited thereon and tamped down until its upper surface is slightly below the plane of openings 5 and 23. The operator then grasps lever 39 and draws it forward from the position shown in full lines Fig. 3 to approximately the position shown in dotted lines, this action causing the upper ends of arms 42 to engage the rear ends of cores 2S and force the same forward through the mold until their front ends fit snugly in' openings 25 as shown in Fig. 5. More concrete is then deposited in the mold and tamped down tightly until its level is just below that of openings 6 and 24. The operator then swings the lever 39 back to its original position and thus returns arms 42 to the position shown in Fig. 3. He then depresses the foot lever with his foot and thus raises arms 42 until their upper ends are disposed behind core 32 with the cross bar 43 forward of the catches 34, and while holding said lever depressed again swings the handle forward, this action causing arms 42 to force the core forwardly through the mold until its front end occupies opening 24, the cross bar in this action striking the beveled lower ends of catches 30 and sliding them upward out of the way, the catches dropping down to their original position behind the cross bar. The operator then removes his foot from the foot lever to permit the latter to swing back until it assumes the position shown in Fig. 3 with the arms 42 in the position shown in dotted lines, same figure. I-Ie then fills the mold with concrete and tamps it down and levels its surface in the plane of the top of the mold. After this is done he again depresses the foot lever with the arms still in the position shown in dotted lines Fig. 3 until the cross bar 43 is disposed forward and in the horizontal plane of the lower ends of catches 30 and 34, still holding the foot lever depressed he pushes lever 39 rearward and through the pressure of the cross bar on said catches simultaneously withdraws the cores 28 and 32 from the mold. He then removes his foot from the lever and the parts occupy the position shown in Fig. The clamping levers 22 are then swung as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. to permit the front wall to be swung downward as hereinbefore explained and the end walls to be swung rearward to permit a couple of laborers to grasp the face plate 45 and remove the block. A second face plate is inserted and the hinged walls restored to their original positions when the machine is ready to make the second block.

In practice it is preferable that sufficient blocks for one course in a building be made with the parts arranged as shown, and then a second course is made with the small cores 28 in the horizontal plane of the large core and the latter in the horizontal plane of the small cores. To accomplish this purpose, the end walls are removed, then the back wall is slid upward until withdrawn from engagement with angle irons 3. It is then inverted with frame 7 and the cores, and again slipped down upon the angle irons, the end walls being then resecured to the inverted back wall.

that the large core is first disposed in the mold and then the small-ones.

hen it is desired to make blocks of increased depth from their outer sides or faces to their inner sides, I preferably remove one end wall 12 and replace it by a taller end wall 46 provided at its upper front corner with an inwardly disposed lug 15 and hinged to the rear upper corner of said end wall and adapted to rest upon the back wall is an extension 47 for the latter and hinged to the opposite end of said extension from wall 46 is an extension 48 for the other end wall, said extension 48 having an inturned lug or hook 49 similar to lugs or hooks 15 hereinbefore described. An extension 50 for the front wall is adapted to be engaged by the lugs or hooks 15 and 49 of wall 46 and Wall extension 48 respectively and is pivotally mounted on long pins 51 which replaces the pivot pins 21 of the cam levers being precisely the same as the latter except that they are made longer in order to secure the extension 50 to the front wall 16. If desired instead of replacing one of the end. walls with the tall end wall 46, said wall 12 may be provided with an extension like extension 48, the tall wall, however, is preferred as a more rigid mold or box is thereby assured. When the mold box is equipped with this extension and is filled to the level of the attachment the artificial stone molded therein will be of greater width from its front or outer face to its inner face, and it is obvious that a plurality of attachments of different heights may be employed in order that blocks of more than two sizes in point of depth may be produced from one machine.

In Fig. 8, one of the core shanks is shown as provided with a notch 52 in its side to pro vide a wall 53 and 54 is a catch fitting in said notch and hanging pivotally from the shank and limited as to rearward movement by wall 53, this catch being adapted for use in place of the slidable catch 30, will swing upwardly to permit the cross bar 43 to pass and then swing back behind the cross bar so that at the proper time the latter may be utilized to withdraw the cores 28 from the mold. The notch 52 is also of sufficient length to permit the catch to swing clear through it so as to occupy an operative position when the positions of the cores are reversed by the inversion of the back wall as hereinbefore explained.

55 indicates cement blocks manufactured with the machine described, 56 indicating the holes or passages made by cores 28, and 57, the holes or passages made by core 32. In Fig. 9, the underlying blocks represent those produced from a machine equipped with an attachment, that is to say, they represent a wider block than the superposed block, the projecting portion of the underlying blocks form ledges or su ports for joists or other timbers. It will a so be understood by reference to Figs. 9 and 10 that the adjacent courses are arranged with the holes or passages 56 and 57 reversed,'that is to say, the holes 56 and 57 of one course occupy the ,same vertical planes as the holes 57 and 56 respectively of the other course and register as shown so as to provide continuous air chambers from the bottom to the top of the building. It will thus be seen that neither frost, heat nor dampness can pass through the wall except through the narrow portions at the outer ends of holes 56, without encountering an air space and where heat enters the blocks at the points named it serves to dry out the mortar with greater rapidity than would otherwise be the case.

In Fig. 11 58 indicates a pair of triangular blocks to occupy the mold with their hypotenuse sides converging downward so as to produce an artificial stone block having its ends pitched at an angle corresponding to the hypotenuse sides of blocks 58. When the mold is being used to produce these blocks, the arms 42 can be adjusted inward of the cores 28 and a shorter cross bar 30 secured to the arms, the latter serving to force core 32 through the mold and the cross bar to engage the catches 34 and withdraw said core from the mold after the block is formed therein, this action occurring without affecting core 28.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a cement block machine possessing the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of invention and I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be restricted to the exact details of construction shown and described as obvious modifications will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Lettors-Patent, is

1. An artificial block machine comprising a table, a face plate thereon, a back wall car ried by the table at the rear edge of the face plate and provided with core openings in different horizontal planes, a frame projecting rearwardly from said wall, provided with guide openings, cores engaging the openings of the wall and provided with shanks engaging the openings of the frame, end walls at the ends of the face plate and connected to the back wall, a front wall at the front edge of the face plate and connected to the end walls and provided with openings in line with the openings of the back wall, swing arms having their free ends back of the cores, a handle for operating the said arms to force the lower core forward until its front end enters the alined opening in the front wall, and means for raising said arms to dispose their free ends in the plane of the upper core for advancing the latter until its front end enters the upper opening of the front wall.

2. An artificial block machine, comprising a table, a face plate thereon, a back wall carried by the table at the rear edge of the face plate and provided with core openings in different horizontal planes, a frame projecting rearwardly from said wall, provided with guide openings, cores engaging the openings of the wall and provided with shanks engaging the openings of the frame, end walls at the ends of the face plate and connected to the back wall, a front wall at the front edge of the face plate and connected to the end walls and provided with openings in line with the openings of the back wall, swing arms having their free ends back of the cores, a handle for operating the said arms to force the lower core forward until its front end enters the alined opening in the front wall, means for raising said arms to dis pose their free ends in the plane of the u per core for advancing the latter until its Ont end enters the upper opening, catches de pending from the shanks of the cores, and adapted to yield to forward and to resist rearward pressure applied thereon and a cross rod carried by the swing arms and adapted in the forward movement of the arms which advances the topmost core, to apply forward pressure on and move the catch of the other core out of its path and when moved rearwardly to engage the catches of all of the cores and move all of the latter rearward simultaneously.

3. An artificial block machine, comprising a table, a face plate thereon, a back wall car ried by the table at the rear edge of the face plate and provided with core openings in different horizontal planes, a frame projecting rearwardly from said wall, provided with guide openings, cores engaging the openings of the wall and provided with shanks engaging the openings of the frame, end walls at the ends of the face plate and connected to the back wall, a front wall at the front edge of the face plate and connected to the end walls and provided with openings in line with the openings of the back wall, swing arms having their free ends back of the cores, a handle for operating the said arms to force the lower core forward until its front end enters the alined opening in the front wall, a lever carried by the table and connected to raise said swing arms at times, catches depending from the shanks of the cores, and adapted to yield to forward and to resist downward pressure applied thereon and a cross rod carried by the swing arms and adapted in the forward movement of the same which advances the topmost core to apply forward pressure on and. move the catch of the other core out of its path and when moved rearwardly to engage the catches of all of the cores and move all of the latter rearward simultaneously.

4. An artificial block machine, comprising a table, a face plate thereon, an invertible back wall carried by the table at the rear edge of the face plate and provided with core openings in different horizontal planes, a frame projecting rearwardly from said wall, provided with guide openings and invertible with. the back wall, cores engaging the openings of the wall and provided with shanks engaging the openings of the frame and also invertible with the latter and the wall, end walls detachably hinged to the back wall in either its normal or inverted position, a front wall hinged at its lower edge to the table and provided with an invertible plate to be inverted when the back wall is inverted and provided with openings to receive said cores,

and means to secure the front wall and end walls together.

5. An artificial block machine, comprising a table, a face plate thereon, an invertible back Wall carried by the table at the rear edge of the face plate and provided with core openings in different horizontal planes, a frame projecting rearwardly from said wall, provided with guide openings and invertible with the back wall, cores engaging the openings of the wall and provided with shanks engaging the openings of the frame and also invertible with the latter and the said wall, end Walls detachably hinged to the back wall in either its normal or inverted position, a front wall hinged at its lower edge to the table and provided with an invertible plate to be inverted when the back wall is inverted and provided with openings to receive said cores, means to secure the front wall and end walls together, and means to successively advance the lower and upper cores until their front ends enter the alined openings of the front wall.

6. An artificial block machine comprising a table, a face plate thereon, an invertible back wall carried by the table at the rear edge of the face plate and provided with core openings in different horizontal planes, a frame projecting rearwardly from said wall, provided with guide openings and invertible with the back wall, cores engaging the openings of the wall and provided with shanks engaging the openings of the frame and also invertible with the latter and the wall, end walls detachably hinged to the back wall in its normal or inverted position, a front Wall hinged at its lower edge to the table and provided with an invertible plate to be inverted When the back wall is inverted and provided with openings to receive said cores, means to secure the front and end Walls together, swing arms suitably mounted with their free ends back of the cores and normally in the plane of the lower one, means to raise the swing arms to dispose their free ends in the plane of the upper core, catches depending from the shanks of the cores and adapted to yield to forward and resist rearward pressure, and means carried by said arms and adapted when the uppermost core is being moved forward to strike and swing out of its path the catch of the lower core and when said arms are swung backward to engage the catches of all of the cores and apply rearward pressure thereon to return the cores to their original positions.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE F. NEWTON.

l/Vitnesses:

H. O. Roncnns, G. Y. Tnonrn. 

